The Bajaj Pulsar Festival of Speed is back!

Bajaj Auto's first ever 'Festival of Speed' was a stonking success last year, and unsurprisingly, the first regional round of this year's FOS, as it is popularly known, drew a huge response from bikers in the NCR. The FOS has particularly caught the fancy of racer boys who want to race, but have no direct access to racetracks or have no idea how to go about indulging in their passion. As you might recall, the FOS has regional rounds held across various cities in the country, before finally culminating in a grand finale that has winners of each round battle it out against each other. While the regional rounds are held at either karting tracks or parking lots turned into a circuit, the finale is held at an actual racetrack.  

Apart from the racing action, last year's FOS also included music performances, stunt shows and riding merchandise as well, and goes without saying, all of these are of huge interest to bikers. The finale that was held at the MMRT, Chennai last year gave bikers an opportunity to hang out with friends and also mingle with like-minded bikers, though the biggest draw obviously were the races held on track. The 2017 Festival of Speed will follow a similar format, and will allow Pulsar owners to get their own motorcycles to race. Like last year, the top finishers who qualify for the finale will be given professional training this year too, in order to help them improve their riding skills, and make the most of their time on track, whilst also learning to go faster in a safe manner. 

The first regional round for this year was held at the Leisure Valley in Gurgaon, and had scores of bikers turn up. The FOS is pegged as the international equivalent of manufacturer held events that help bring the customers closer to the brand, and the round was a clear indication of the increasing popularity of the FOS. 

A makeshift race track was erected at the Leisure Valley parking using old tyres. The track was an M-shaped one with straights turning into hairpin turns for Pulsar RS200 owners would battle it out for top honours. This year's grand finale which will be held at the Karti Motor Speedway in Coimbatore on April 9, which should make for some interesting races given the tighter, more technical corners the track boasts.  

It was a rather warm but breezy Sunday afternoon in Gurgaon, and despite the crowd, the venue appeared kind of empty, why? Because almost the entire populous in attendance was by the barriers of the racetrack, eagerly waiting for the races to commence. When you have a tight gymkhana style track, a quick motorcycle and 156 enthusiastic motorcyclists, the action is bound to be plentiful, and plentiful it was. There were three different classes: the RS200, which had the highest number of entries, followed by the Pulsar 200NS and the Pulsar 220 categories. 

Each race had seven riders go out for four laps, and the racing action was a lot more intense than expected. This being quite a tight circuit wheel to wheel racing was plentiful, and paint trading around corners was invariable. Needless to say there were a few spills and scrapes and overshooting of corners, but everyone got away unscathed including the motorcycles. A few participants did pull off some crazy overtaking maneuvers which were met with enthusiastic cheers from the crowds. 

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At the halfway point the races were halted and the track was taken over by Ghost Ryderz, a professional stunt team, of which two members pulled off some insane stunts on their modified Pulsars, well-suited for the job with the punchy low-end performance and agility. Wheelies and stoppies were a regular affair, nac nacs and wheelchair wheelies were met with enthusiastic cheering but rolling burnouts got the loudest cheers as the riders smoked their tyres almost down to the wires. Their weapon of choice? The Pulsar 200NS. After fifteen minutes of screaming engines and burning rubber, the races resumed. In the end, Ankit Sharma took top honours with Adil Malik coming in a close second in the RS200 category, while Hamza Khalid was the winner followed by Mantavya Sharma was the runner up in the 200NS category. Tushar Acharya and Abhishek Khan were the top two finishers and in the 220 category. Ankit and Adil from the RS200 have thus confirmed their entry for the grand finale to be held in Coimbatore.

Apart from the close racing action, there was a burnout zone where festival goers could show off their skills at shredding their rear tyre. Also set up was a cross-fit section, a DIY graphics booth for Pulsars and of course motorcycle accessories and merchandise shops, right next to a display of Bajaj’s entire Pulsar range. Some of the graphics on the Pulsars at the booth were really eye-catching, and it was interesting to see the myriad designs bikers were coming up with. 

As the sun went down, the volume of the music went up, and the place was teeming with excited bikers, clearly geared for a live performance. Present at the do was renowned Indian rapper Raftaar. As with a lot of gatherings, the crowd tends to thin out as the evening wears on, but the 2017 FOS in Gurgaon saw crowds filling in to the festival venue well after the sun had disappeared. 

When Bajaj Auto started the FOS last year, it envisioned a rider festival for its customers to bring the Pulsar community closer not only to the brand but to each other as well. And going by the response we saw at this year's inaugural round, the manufacturer is certainly on the right ‘track’.